Assembly of fiber reinforced plastic laminates is accomplished by adhesive bonding or by joining with fasteners. In installations where fasteners are required and weight savings are a consideration it would be desirable to join the laminates with rivets instead of threaded fasteners, however, rivets create a problem as expansion of the rivet during the forming operation causes the laminate to be weakened as is evidenced by crazing in the area of the matrix around the formed rivet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,310 to Gennes a rivet tubular throughout the length of the shank is shown in combination with an adhesive for joining clutch friction discs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,591,478 to Eaton a rivet tubular throughout part of the length of the shank is used to join and compress a dust guard of fiber board or leather-board covering a compressible absorbent body portion.
It was found that a special shaped semi-tubular rivet can be used to fasten together fiber reinforced plastic laminates without creating a weakness in the laminates.